Samaria Gorge

Samaria Gorge

Samaria Gorge is the most famous hiking gorge in Europe, forming part of the European path E4. Its length reaches 15 km and its descent takes about 5-7 hours, depending on your pace, from Omalos to Agia Roumeli. The most famous part of the gorge is the point known as Portes, where its sides come to a distance of only 4m, while rising to a height of 500m! The best period of the year to cross the gorge, clearly is during springtime. The weather is still cool, the vegetation is at its best and the river has plenty of water.

The worst time is in the middle of summer, especially during a heat wave. For this reason, it is best to drive to the port of Chora Sfakion and buy a ticket for the boat that takes you to Agia Roumeli. From there, you will be able to walk the gorge up (north) and back (south) and see the main and most famous parts of it. Then, board again at the boat that takes you back to the port of Chora Sfakion and drive back to your base. On the other hand, you can stay in a nice and low-cost room in Omalos and start walking through Samaria gorge after 12.00pm, as there will not be many people. However, you will probably need to spend the night in Agia Roumeli because the last ferry to Chora Sfakion will have set sail when you get there and obviously Samaria gorge is very big and you cannot walk it from top to bottom in one day. Nevertheless, we strongly recommend you to cross this famous and beautiful gorge, as accommodation in Agia Roumeli is quite cheap, the surrounding beaches are stunning and the food is excellent.